By JEFF GERTHwith NEIL A. LEWIS,

Published: October 16, 1994

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15—
On Feb. 24, a twin-engine Cessna crashed while trying to land in a billowing snowstorm in Minot, N.D., killing the pilot and three doctors from the Indian Health Service on a routine trip to a reservation clinic in the northern part of the state.

The accident was first treated by Government officials simply as the kind of tragedy that sometimes happens. But the doctors' three widows soon discovered that the charter company whose plane crashed had been the center of a complicated dispute among Federal regulators about its safety record.

The most notable aspect was the apparent intercession of an influential Senator on behalf of the company's owner, a friend who had taught him to fly. A two-year campaign by the Senator, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, a contender to be the Democratic leader in the Senate, in effect ended the work of flight inspectors from the Forest Service, which monitors any company that its officials use. The inspectors had repeatedly warned that the aviation company, B & L Aviation of Rapid City, S.D., was run in a slipshod manner and should be barred from doing work for the Government.

Federal investigators have yet to determine possible causes of the crash, and there is no evidence that Mr. Daschle's efforts played any direct role in the accident. But in making their own inquiries the three widows have uncovered a tale of how political influence, friendship and bureaucratic imperatives can intertwine. And they ask whether the routine Washington practice of helping local interests was in this case carried too far.

"I wonder if he was overzealous in his representation of B & L as a constituent," said one of them, Dianne Vlassis.

The women are also suing B & L and Cessna, and their legal actions are being contested by the companies.

In an interview, Mr. Daschle vigorously defended his efforts. "My conditions all along have always been: No. 1, that we attempt to consolidate these services, and in the process save money and save frustration," he said, "but equally important, that we maintain at least the level of quality that we have right now at the level of safety for the users of aviation."

Over the years, B & L Aviation has flown dozens of Government officials, including many Forest Service officials as well as doctors who work for the Department of Health and Human Services, like the three Indian Service doctors who died in the crash. The charter company operates 23 aircraft.

B & L's owner, Murl H. Bellew, in a letter to a reporter, said his company had a comprehensive safety program, a "policy to place safety above all else," and he cited an accident-free record for more than 30 years before the February crash.

Like all air carriers, B & L was inspected regularly by the F.A.A. But because it also flew for the Forest Service, the company was also checked regularly by its inspectors to insure compliance with its more stringent safety requirements that address special tasks like flying in the back country. Different Agencies, Different Reports

Inspectors from the F.A.A. generally gave B & L a clean bill of health. But various inspectors from the Forest Service reported numerous violations that the F.A.A. had missed. Forest Service documents characterize B & L as a company repeatedly neglecting safety considerations, with equipment problems left unattended and pilots with an attitude of "bottom line over safety."

Mr. Bellew said he had contacted Senator Daschle because he was upset with what he saw as unnecessary duplication by the Forest Service.

Senator Daschle was in a good position to help Mr. Bellew as a member of the Agriculture Committee and chairman of its subcommittee that oversees the Forest Service. In addition, Mr. Daschle, a 46-year-old Farm Belt liberal, has been one of the fastest-rising Democrats in Congress.

In response to Mr. Bellew's complaints, Mr. Daschle drafted an amendment to strip the Forest Service of its ability to inspect aircraft and pushed it through the Senate this spring without any hearings or debate in the overall bill reorganizing the Agriculture Department.

But when Mr. Daschle brought his proposal to the House he met resistance. Members and aides first saw it as a laudable effort to reduce duplication. But they said they had later been troubled upon finding the connections between Mr. Daschle, Mr. Bellew and Mr. Bellew's complaints about the Forest Service. This month, despite pressure by the Senator and his aides, the House killed the amendment.

But that may not matter. After being repeatedly pressed by Mr. Daschle, the Forest Service recently adopted much of his proposal on its own in response, an official said, to Mr. Daschle's repeated urgings. Charter Company Worries Fliers

As the twin-engine Cessna lifted off from Devil's Lake, N.D. on Feb. 24, its mission was to take the three doctors, who had flown frequently in their work with Indian health programs, to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation: Dr. Arvo Oopik, 37, who was part of a national team studying heart problems; Dr. Christopher Krogh, 45, who ran a program to reduce infant mortality, and Dr. Ruggles Stahn, 46, who directed an effort to prevent diabetes.